This specification relates to material skimmers, and in particular fluid skimmers.
Often during industrial operations a first fluid becomes contaminated with a waste fluid. When the first fluid is of relatively high value compared to the waste fluid, a manufacturer will utilize a remediation process to separate the fluids. One such remediation process is skimming, and this particular process is used when the fluids are insoluble and the waste fluid is of less density and lighter weight than the first fluid so that the waste fluid forms a layer on top of the first fluid.
For example, many industrial machines utilize coolant fluids to facilitate particular machining and metal cutting operations and use separate way lubes and hydraulic fluids to reduce machine wear. To illustrate, machines such as mills, lathes and drills for example will utilize a coolant to cool cutting tools at the point of cut. The coolant is used to wet the surfaces and is drained into a receiving vessel, such as a sump, and is recirculated. These cutting machines also utilize a lubricating oil to lubricate the cutting machine parts. The lubricating oils mixes in with the coolant and are also collected in the same receiving tank. Due to the different densities and weights of the fluids, the lubricating oil forms a surface layer on top of the coolant. These coolants are more expensive than the lubricating oil and can be easily recycled compared to lubricating oils. The presence of the lubricating oil, over time, reduces the life of the coolant. As a result, manufacturers want to remove this contaminating lubricating oil from the coolant. There is also a presence of floating particulate, chips and other solid contaminates in the contaminating lubricating oil. One such way of removing the lubricating oil, commonly referred to as “tramp oil,” and other floating contaminates, is by the use of a skimmer that introduces a driven belt with an affinity for the tramp oil on the surface of coolant fluids. The tramp oil and many solid contaminates are then carried away as the belt is driven to a scraper. The scraper scrapes the tramp oil from the belt, and the scraped oil and particulate is collected in a receiving vessel.